


Keep pushing

by PoemAboutCitylights



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Fanboy!Max, Fluff, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 07:50:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12766425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoemAboutCitylights/pseuds/PoemAboutCitylights
Summary: Max is barely a teenager when he meets Daniel Ricciardo for the first time and the cheerful Australian soon becomes his favourite F1 driver.So what happens when the Dutch finally makes it into the champions league of motor sports to race against and with his idol?





	Keep pushing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [brausepups](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brausepups/gifts).



> This work is dedicated to Anni, who had the main idea for the story.  
> I hope you'll enojoy it!

_2006_  
  
When Max is 8, he cannot remember a time when motor sport has not been a part of his life. Somehow, it has just always been there.  
And he loves what he is doing. A day that is not spend in a cart is a wasted day and when he wins the Rotax Max Minimax in Belgium for the first time, he knows that this is what he wants to do for a living, despite his young age.  
Max dominates each series he drives in for the next years and he feels his dream growing in his chest, feels a fire burning in his insides whenever he is out on a race track.

  
When Max is 12, he joins another team and continues to win. Around that time, he starts to dream of Formula 1. The champions league of motor sports, where legends are made and eras set off.  
And young Max sometimes catches himself staring at the trophies of his dad, wondering, imagining that one day, if he only worked hard enough, he would stand on top of a podium.  
Max is barely a teenager when he meets Dan for the first time.  
But back then it is still _Daniel_ or even just _Ricciardo._ Max is traveling with his dad to a Formula 1 race which is always exciting because he gets to meet drivers and fans of his father.  
At first, Max finds no interest in the slim dark haired guy that is talking to some mechanics in the back of the garage. His dad has told him that he is driving in Formula Renault and a possible testing driver for Red Bull but Max is much more interested in the actual drivers, not someone who might _one day_ make it there.  
But there is too much rain and therefore too much water on the track which means that the quali is interrupted and Max grows bored.  
It is when he is about to ask his dad to buy him some food that someone is tapping on his shoulder.  
When Max turns around, there is the testing guy, _Daniel_ , smiling at him.  
“You’re Jos Verstappen’s son, aren’t you?” he asks with a grin so wide Max thinks it has got to hurt.  
He also has a weird accent, one that Max hasn’t heard before, which makes it hard for him to understand the words in a language that he is still learning.  
So he just nods and the fact that the other guy is basically beaming causes him to shyly smile back at him.  
“Nice to meet you, mate. I’m Dan.”  
Max nods again and does not know what to say. He is only 12, after all and Dan is a grown up.  
A grown up with a weird accent, so what are they supposed to talk about?  
Where even is his dad?  
“I was told you’re also a driver? Like your dad?”  
“Yes,” Max says but his voice is scratchy and Daniel just smiles.  
He also has funny hair, Max notices.  
“Alrighty, then. I bet you’re a great driver, Maxy.”  
“Just Max!” he immediately says and blushes a little when Daniel starts giggling.  
“I’m sorry, just Max.”  
He is glad when someone from the team approaches Daniel and engages him into a conversation about tyres and data.  
However, his dad is still nowhere to be seen so Max waits impatiently, watching Daniel talking to the team boss.  
Why is he smiling all the time? Doesn’t his lips get tired?  
Max thinks of it as a little unsettling.  
The boss leaves and Max’ dad still hasn’t come back and Daniel turns towards him once again.  
“Do you still want to be a driver when you’re older? Like your dad?” he asks with his strange accent and Max nods confidently.  
“I will be a Formula 1 driver!”  
Before Daniel can answer, his dad appears, “There you are Max! Come on, we’ll be late otherwise. Bye Daniel!”  
“Bye Mr. Verstappen,” Daniel says and then lowers his position a little, “I’ll be waiting for you here, then, Maxy. Keep pushing!”

  
Only a year later, in 2010, everything suddenly changes when he steps up to international carting.  
In a way, it is much different than what he has experienced before, for he isn’t the best anymore.  
On the other hand, it is so much more fun, racing against guys that are on his level or above.  
It takes some time until he makes progress but when he finishes 2nd in his first season, Max knows that he is doing the right thing. He feels it every time he sits in his cart, whenever he smells burned tyres and gasoline. And he sees it in his dad’s eyes when he finishes with a good position, he sees the pride in Jos’ eyes, motivating him to always keep pushing.  
The next years, his dream of driving in Formula 1 one day keeps growing with every win and every series that he finishes first.  
He tries not to miss a single race, except for when he’s driving a race himself.  


In 2013, Max drives a racing car for the first time and he knows that he can actually do it. He keeps being successful and the words “F1” drop from his dad’s lips more frequently.  
Around that time, a certain Sebastian Vettel starts dominating the champions league of racing in his Red Bull. Max admires him, but the car even more.  
So once again, he starts dreaming.  
And when he closes his eyes after a hard day when he lies in bed, he can almost feel the Red Bull under him, the vibrations of the track and hear the sound of the engine.  
He also starts to picture himself in a blue racing suit more often.  
Max knows that the only real chance to drive for Red Bull one day is to start his Formula 1 career in a Toro Rosso. So he starts watching the junior team more closely.  
Naturally, studying their drivers cannot be avoided in the process. Daniel still has a weird accent but Max’ English has improved and while his locks are still a mess, Max admires the way the Australian drives. And he also no longer is “the testing guy” but a real F1 driver now, someone whose name people know, with fans and everything. Max wouldn’t go as far as calling himself one but whenever Daniel finishes in the points or overtakes with a great manoeuvre, he feels happy for him.  
However, that changes rapidly.  
His sister is the first one to buy him a Toro Rosso cap with Daniel’s number on it for his birthday.  
It evolves from there.  
Because really, how could anyone not think that the Aussie is one of the most talented and underrated drivers on the grid?  
Max is sure that he could even compete with Sebastian Vettel, if he only had the same car.

It's 2013 and Max is 16 when he meets the Australian for the second time.  
They are at the Belgium GP in Spa and Daniel is no longer a test driver, which is why Max does not expect to talk to him at all.  
They aren’t even visiting the Toro Rosso or Red Bull crew, instead Max just follows his dad around behind the paddock and wishes for the race to finally start because he is growing tired of shaking hands and making small talk.  
He leans against a cool wall and watches his dad talking to someone he doesn’t know when someone’s shoulder bumps into his.  
“Maxy!”  
Max is so surprised that he stumbles backwards, except there’s a wall which means that his head painfully collides with the concrete.  
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Daniel says but he is grinning and Max feels his heart beating in his throat.  
The last time he talked to the Australian, he hadn’t even managed to remember his name correctly and now he is his favourite driver on the grid. Oh, how the things have changed.  
“You grew up so fast!” Daniel grins and ruffles his hair playfully. Max can feel himself blushing heavily which he tries to cover up by faking a yawn and covering his face.  
“You tired?” the Australian asks and his shoulder makes contact with Max’ again.  
Max isn’t sure if his voice can be trusted but he’ll have to figure it out eventually, so he’s glad when he manages to say “No,” without stuttering.  
“Great, mate. So, how you’re doing? Congrats on winning the KF and KZ!”  
The fact that Daniel knows that Max had won the series, that he knows anything but him at all, makes Max’ heart fasten its beat.  
“Thank you. Congratulations on driving in F1, I guess?”  
“Thanks, man,” Daniel replies and beams, his smile so wide that it reaches from one ear to the other.  
Max can’t help but smile as well.  
Someone is calling the Australian’s name and Daniel shrugs apologetically, “Sorry, I’ve gotta get going. Race start won’t wait for me. It was nice to meet you again, Maxy. Come around again!”  
He is gone before Max can even think of something to say and he slowly shakes his head in disbelief when he’s sure that no one is watching him.  
When had he become such a fanboy of someone he has only met twice?

Things get real in 2014 when his dad storms into his room at 5am, opens the curtains and sits down on the edge of his bed.  
“Max,” he says and waits until his son has blinked several times, “Max, I got a call.”

It’s all too much for Max to grasp.  
One day, he’s driving in the European Formula 3 championship and the next he’s still driving in F3 but with a Formula 1 contract for the upcoming season at Toro Rosso.  
Red Bull aren’t the only ones that have expressed their interest. There has been a two hour call of his dad with the Mercedes bosses but in the end, it has been Max’ decision and no way he could just forget that feeling in his chest when Daniel had smiled at him a year ago.  
The fact that Carlos Sainz Jr, one of his best friends for years, wil be his team mate at Toro Rosso is a huge bonus.  
His sister gets him a Red Bull umbrella with Daniel’s name on it for Christmas that year.  
Whenever Carlos comes over, he hides it in the back of his closet, together with the cap, several key chains and a towel with Daniel’s face on it that he bought as more of a joke.  


The day Max gets his license, someone suddenly shoves a camera and a phone in his face.  
It is a video of Daniel, so much he can figure out before someone presses play.  
The second the Australian starts speaking, Max feels his insides knotting and he can’t help thinking: _This is real. I have made it. I will race against Daniel fucking Ricciardo._  
His heart is beating so loud that he has trouble understanding anything video-Daniel is saying, “Hey Max, I heard you got your super-license today. All the best and eh yeah, we’ll see you on the grid in, I don’t know, six months time or something.”  
Max tries to bite back the grin that tugs on the corners of his mouth, especially with the camera focused on his face but he fails.  
“He’s a really nice guy,” he says and hopes that his voice doesn’t give away all the admiration he holds for his idol.

When the day of days has finally come, the Australian GP, Max is so nervous that he is convinced he will fuck up the entire race.  
His hands are shaking and how the fuck is he supposed to hit the right buttons like that? How will he even manage to get inside his car?  
Having Carlos by his side helps but not that much, though.  
The Spaniard just doesn’t seem to get what Max’ problem is.  
“See, Max. Just give your best and it will be fine. No one’s expecting you to score points or anything. You have to find your rhythm first. So what are you so nervous about?”  
Max shakes his head and sits down on a stack of used Super Softs.  
He understands the point his best friend is trying to make and still – he’s so nervous, he’s afraid that he won’t even make it through the first corner.  
This is his dream, this is everything he has ever wanted, so where’s the damn problem?  
If Max is being honest with himself, he knows exactly what the problem is.  
It has two legs, a smile as bright as a lightning bulb and an accent that doesn’t sound strange to him anymore.  


**Author's Note:**

> Soooo, here's the first chapter.  
> I hope I got all the dates right and I/we actually have some great ideas for this story.  
> As always, the best motivation for me to continue a story is feedback.  
> Therefore, comments are always appreciated.  
> All the love,  
> Johanna xx


End file.
